Fear
by Nature9000
Summary: When the bullying drive a man to the brink of insanity, Melanie and Carly try and protect Sam from a dangerous man. They become trapped with others in the smoothie shop, will Sam survive or will a man's evolving hatred finally become her end?


Fear

Disclaimer: So I don't own iCarly

A/N: This comes to me as an idea based upon a discussion I had with a friend. When we spoke of Sam's aggressions, we pegged _Freddie_ for slowly becoming more and more aggressive. Some examples were when he Held that knife with the thought to kill and had to stop himself, or when he even said something about his hatred of her becoming stronger. Some other traits to his behavior were, he's grown out of this one a bit but he had a seemingly stalker trait in season 1. He's also been shown to be domineering and controlling around the girls, such as the pulling of the ponytails. So. See what happens and enjoy the oneshot. Oh, and for all intents and purposes, going _pre-_kiss here.

Oh and this song you should listen to and play during this, it fits "world so cold" by 12 stones: http:/www. youtube . com/ watch?v=vA4274lwi9g

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><p>-REACHING THE BREAKING POINT-<p>

His breath hitched and his blood ran violently through his veins as he watched her from behind that camera. He seethed as his eyes moved skyward, not at all focusing on Sam and Carly. It all came down to one final prank. He lost all desire to contain that inner demon inside him that raged every time she damaged him in one way or another. He moved his eyes towards Carly, who was dressed up as an farm girl. Her constant turning him down wore him thin, but he didn't care nearly as much anymore. Right now, he just had _one_ object of hate. His eyes narrowed upon the cowboy with the moustache and everything inside him flared up. He wanted to scare her, to _kill_ her.

Days later, Carly and Melanie were waiting around at Sam's house, hoping to hang out with her for the day. Pam was sleeping, so the girls were not going to hang out around the house. Carly was seated at the couch while Melanie was standing on the floor rug, tapping her foot. What was taking her sister so long? "Call her again?" Carly nodded and Melanie dialed Sam's phone once again, for what seemed like the tenth time now. Still, there was no answer. She looked to Carly and shook her head, now both girls were really starting to worry. "What do you think's wrong?"

"Maybe she's just late…she's always getting distracted. Isn't she?" Just then, Melanie's phone began ringing. She quickly checked it and started to feel relieved when she saw Sam's picture light up. "Tell me that's Sam!"

"It is!" She answered the phone and put it on speaker for Carly to hear and talk as well. "Sam where are you, we've been worried sick."

"Melanie, Carly, help!" The girls stared at the phone curiously as they started listening. She sounded out of breath and her shoes were slapping down on the pavement. She was running from something, or someone, but who would be out to get her? "There's some guy in a jumpsuit and mask chasing me! He has a knife and some other weapons at a belt on his-oh god, no!" The girls gasped as they heard a loud crash. Their hearts popped out and they stared at each other quietly.

"Sam? Sam, are you okay? What's happening!"

"He threw something at my head! It was big and spiky!"

Carly shot up from the chair and ran over to the phone. Her friend was in danger, what could she do? "Sam, it's Carly, where are you!" She waited as Sam tried to find any familiar sights. She ducked behind a trashcan and looked around it to try and see where her hunter was.

"I think…I think I'm at the corner of Trace and Shenway." Carly started thinking about the location and soon the right thought popped into her head.

"That's where Groovy Smoothie is at! Go there, whoever's after you won't hurt you in a public place. Wait for us, we'll be right there." Sam screamed and moved from the trashcan as a large hatchet came sailing towards her throat. The man shouted as his axe it the trashcan instead.

"Please don't leave me!" Tears ran down her cheeks as she hurried towards the smoothie shop. She loved that place, but right now, she definitely did not want any smoothies.

"We won't, we'll stay right here till we find you, okay?" Sam nodded and looked back, the man was running after her. He seemed to be just an inch or so taller than she was and the only skin he had were his dragon shaped eyes peering murderously at her from the horizontal slit on his mask. Thinking fast, Melanie and Carly ran for the car. They didn't want to wake or worry Pam, as they knew she would freak if one of her daughters was in this much danger. Speaking of which, Melanie was charging directly in, but this was her sister. She didn't want anything to happen to her. "Melanie, you call the police while I drive."

"Got it." They set the phone down in Carly's cup holder, listening to the sound of Sam running as fast as she could. Carly handed Melanie the phone, shifted her car into drive, and sped off. "Should I try to call Freddie too? Maybe he can help stop this guy."

"I guess, but right now the police are more important." Melanie agreed and dialed the police. When they answered, she was frantic and flustered.

"9-1-1, please state your emergency."

"My sister's in danger!" The operator wasn't shocked by Melanie's abrupt response, she'd interjected before the lady completely finished her sentence.

"Your sister's life is in danger?"

"Someone's chasing her, trying to kill her! She's on the other phone right now." The operator began typing in the information she was hearing and had a large map up on her screen.

"What is your location and what is your sister's location? Name as well?"

"I'm Melanie Puckett, my sister is Samantha Puckett. She's by the groovy smoothie, we told her to go inside so the man wouldn't try to kill her in there." Melanie's heart broke when she heard her sister's scream over the phone. She placed her hand to her speeding heart and quickly she shouted for Carly. "Hurry up, Carly!"

"I'm going as fast as I can! Sam, are you okay?" Sam whimpered and let out a painful sob that tore at the girls. "Sam! What happened!"

"He hit me. I tried to confront him and he punched me. He tried to cut me with the knife and axe but I got away. He scratched my arm though…" Melanie gasped and scolded her sister, though it was probably the wrong thing to do at the time.

"Are you crazy? Don't try to confront him! Get in the shop now, tell T-Bo what's going on, he'll get you somewhere safe!" Sam let out a breathless pant and ran for the door, screaming as the man's knife flew past her head. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute, she could feel every inch of her body dripping with sweat as she ran into the door.

Carly parked alongside the building and flew out of the car with Melanie, that's when they spotted Sam's pursuer. He spotted them and dug into them with his narrow eyes. The girls froze under his deadly gaze, they were hoping not to actually meet him face to face. He glared at the two girls and quickly ducked into the nearby alleyway. Carly swallowed hard and Melanie, thinking fast for her sister, came to reality quickly and shook Carly a bit. "Come on Carly, Sam's inside, we need to get to her now!"

"Okay..." Carly smacked her cheek once for effort and quickly rushed inside with Melanie. When they made it inside, they saw Sam huddled in the corner behind the counter, T-Bo was trying to offer the frightened girl some comfort and a bagel. She was shaking, tears were staining her cheeks, and as small amount of blood was dripping down her upper arm where she'd been cut. She lifted her pale face upwards as the two girls ran towards her. "Sam!"

"Sam, we're here!" Melanie knelt beside her sister and hugged her close.

"Why would anyone want to kill me, Mel? Carly?" Carly pressed her lips tightly together and looked at the doors, she was keeping a lookout to make sure that man did not come in. "I know I've done some bad things, but…I don't think I've ever done anything _that_ bad, have I? Everyone makes mistakes, don't they?"

"Yes, you're fine though. We called the police, they're sending in a couple officers…"

"Mel…I know I'm a tough person, so if you ever tell anyone that I'm terrified…"

"It's okay to be scared. You're not the only one." She ran her hand through her twin's hair and placed her chin onto her head. As much as Sam wanted to describe the person who was after her, she could only say he was thin and slightly muscular. There were patrons in the building, all familiar to them, they were worried about what was going on.

Rueben and Shannon were at one table, sipping smoothies together. Gibby was cleaning up a spill next to the bathroom, he accidently spilled some of his drink there. Even Nevel was there, playing chess with a friend of his. All in all, the atmosphere was relaxing to them. The doors opened and the girls glanced over to see Freddie walking in. His hands were in his pockets, he was wearing a polo shirt with black denim jeans. His hair was slightly spiked and his eyes were filled with concern. "Sam?"

"Freddie, what are you doing here?" Sam slowly stood up, still shaking. She cupped her hand over her cut on her arm while Melanie and Carly clutched her closely. They didn't want to let go of her and have anything happen. Freddie moved through the area and met Sam's fearful gaze.

"Gibby called me, he said you were huddled up in a corner. Is everything okay?" Sam sniffed and exhaled slowly, trying to relax her shot nerves. Freddie lifted his finger to her arm, causing her to tense her muscles. He gently ran his thumb over her cut and felt the blood drench his skin. "Who did this to you?"

"I don't know, someone's trying to kill me!" Freddie's face fell and he immediately began to worry for her. As the doors opened up once more, he glanced over to see two officers entering the joint. "Officers!" One of the officers was Carl, they recognized him from years ago when they messed up the sign. Sam ran over to him and he met her eyes.

"We had a call to a disturbance?" Freddie stared in silence at the officers and glanced over as Melanie rushed to Sam's side.

"I called, somebody's after my sister." The officers nodded and eyed the establishment, they didn't see anybody threatening, but it was always best to remain at the scene if necessary. "There was a man dressed up in a black jump suit and as ski mask with a slit where the eyes are. He was bulky, like he was wearing clothes underneath…aside from that I can't give any more info. He ran off into the alley on the right."

"We'll go check, stay right here all right?" Sam gazed uncomfortably at Officer Carl, she had hoped he'd stick around. The two officers ran outside and Carly made her way over to her friends. She pat Sam on the shoulder and smiled at her. The usually fearless blonde was now dependant on her sister and best friend for comfort, how far had she fallen?

"This guy's been following me for the past week it feels like…terrorizing me."

"He's not going to hurt you, Sam."

"Maybe we should leave!"

Freddie shook his head and walked up to the girls. "The officers said to stay right here, though. If you leave, it might be more dangerous for you than staying here."

"What's it to you, Freddie? I don't want to stay here when that guy is anywhere near me…"

"Well in the end it is your choice. You'll be fine, though." Hopefully he was right, she was just too mixed up to tell, really. What could she do besides believe things would be okay?

"If I see that asshole…I'm going to kick his ass. Simple as that…" Freddie lifted his eyes skyward and he slowly shook his head in disdain.

"Just because you're an 'oh so tough' person, doesn't necessarily mean you can fight a psychopath bent on murder, you know." Sam shifted uncomfortably and moved her eyes to the side. She had to admit he was right, what could she do besides try to be an imposing force in the eyes of an assassin?

"What did I ever do?"

"Don't know, maybe you pulled a prank on the wrong person or something." He shrugged his shoulders and started to walk over to where T-Bo was, hoping to talk to him about something important. Sam watched as T-Bo pat Freddie on the back and led him into another room.

Just then, the officers ran in carrying a black jumpsuit and mask in their hands. Sam's eyes widened as Carly and Melanie stared in shock. "We found these in the alley! Whoever's after you may be in civilian clothing."

"No!" Now there was no possible way to identify her attacker. Her eyes fell to Nevel, to Gibby, to Rueben, any one of these guys could possibly be her attacker. Though it didn't make sense for Gibby to be, but who knew really? Nevel was likely, he was always trying to kill iCarly, but was he capable of actual murder? Her body tensed up and she quickly started towards the door.

"Sam!"

"No, I'm leaving!" Just as she reached the door, the master locks clicked in and a gate shot up, blocking the door. Sam screamed and leapt back, looking up as the lights went out. "What happened to the lights! Everything's dark! Carly? Melanie?" Nobody could see anything, the entire building was pitch black and all windows were somehow covered. Had the person who wanted her dead rigged the place somehow?

"Sam we're over here!" Melanie ran over to the doors, nearly bumping into her. Everyone in the room was screaming and panicking while the officers tried to quell the commotion. Suddenly a loud crashing sound erupted throughout the place and everyone turned to see the top portion of a nearby wall crumble out, forming a hole in which sunlight shone in and lit up just barely enough for people to see what was in front of them. As Sam stared at the hole, she saw a man walk into view, as if he was standing on something outside to lift himself up. Her eyes widened when she saw the outline of a sniper rifle.

"He has a sniper!"

"No!" Melanie and Carly quickly pushed Sam beneath a table and threw their bodies over her just in case the sniper would shoot at her. Sam put her arms over her head and immediately began trying to decide how to get out of the area.

Nevel rose daringly from his seat and Carly spouted out at him to sit down, but he didn't listen. His face was hard and his muscles tense, he was _not_ prepared to die. He stepped into the sniper's view and pointed a mighty finger at him. "You stop this instant! You're scaring everyone in here! T-Bo's probably calling for more police right now!"

"T-Bo is dead." The man spoke with a disguised voice, it was deep and menacing. Sam gasped as the man took aim. Nevel slowly lowered his arms and narrowed his eyes. "He tried to call the cops in. I couldn't let that happen." The sniper paused for a split second, his eyes darting across the room. "Oh, speaking of which…"

The two police officers were moving towards Nevel to pull him out of danger, they hadn't quite called for backup yet. Two shots rang out and Nevel's eyes widened, his body twitched and he slowly turned around. Sam let out a pained shout as Officer Carl and his partner both crumpled to the ground, their heads had a single bullet wound entering and exiting. "Oh my god, you…you're a murderer! Why are you doing this!"

"Simple answer, Papperman. I've had enough. I've had enough of the agony, enough of the torment, _enough_ of being walked over. I've decided now would be the day I rise up and take down my tormentors!"

"And you're going to kill innocents?" Nevel turned back to him and lifted his arm, once more pointing his index finger to the sniper. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, and I don't give a shit…not anymore…" What snapped inside this man? What made pushed him over the limit of what he could withstand? What made him unable to control his urges any longer? His finger weighed heavily on the trigger and his lips curled into a grin. "Goodbye, Papperman."

"Wha…" Nevel's eyes widened as he stood there, frozen. He wanted to move, but seeing how close he was to death, he just couldn't. He closed his eyes tightly and listened as the gun let out its deafening roar.

"Gibby!" Gibby's loud shout echoed throughout the shop as he threw himself in front of Nevel. Carly cried out and Melanie covered her eyes, gasping as Gibby's body jerked back. The bullet tore into his left lung, causing him to collapse to the ground. He extended his hand forward and moaned. "W-Why? Why do this?"

"Damn it Gibby, you shouldn't have done that…You wasted my bullet." Suddenly Nevel regained the strength his legs and began running from the spot, but it wasn't good enough. He let out a painful yell mixed with a sob as a bullet tore into his spinal column. Sam, Carly, and Melanie watched with frightened eyes as Nevel's body fell before them. "Now, where is Samantha Puckett, if you don't want anymore to die, I suggest you show yourself now!"

Sam clutched her sides and clenched her eyes shut. Was all this her fault? Was everything she did the cause? She never ever meant to push anyone over the edge, assuming that's why this guy was after her. She never meant for all of this to happen! She clenched her teeth and her tears started dripping onto the floor as she stared at Nevel's body in front of them. His eyes were open and his mouth wide open, his hands were twitching and his stomach was on the ground. His eyes were locked with hers, he was taking his final breaths before death.

A wheezing sound was nearby. The girls could see Gibby lying on his back, his head to the side and palm open beside him. His lung was slowly filling with blood, he was drowning! Sam whimpered softly and she looked up to her sister, she wanted to step out there and get this over with. She didn't want anyone else to be hurt.

Melanie shook her head at her and Carly held her down tighter. "I'm not letting my sister die…We'll get out of this somehow…"

"There are about twenty people still in this shop." The girls lifted their eyes to the man as he slowly moved his sniper rifle about. "For each second you hesitate, another will die." The area filled with screams and gasps as people began running for the walls, the tables, or any shelter they could find. Suddenly, the sniper locked onto his next victim. "Aha!" The girls froze and they looked up to see the sniper pointed away from them. "Shannon Mitchell. The crazy obsessive bitch…"

"No!" Sam started to push herself from under Carly and Melanie, her heart was screaming and her adrenaline was pumping. She shouted as she continued trying to push. It was too late, however, a gunshot rang out and Sam's body began to feel numb. Her eyes widened as she heard Shannon's painfilled cry and Rueben's rage-filled yell.

"Shannon!" Rueben fell beside her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her and holding her close. She had blood gushing from her mouth and a huge hole in her stomach. Rueben felt his breath halt and his hands trembled as he watched his girlfriend's eyes move to the back of her head. "No." He whispered softly, shaking his head in disbelief as he laid her on the ground. "No…" He rose to his feet, repeating his unbelief over and over multiple times. "No, this isn't happening…this is just a dream, a _nightmare!"_

"I'm afraid this is as real as it gets, Rueben." Rueben turned his attention to the shooter and let out a roar of terror and anger. He screamed out and rushed for the sniper, though he had no plan whatsoever. He'd lost everything just now, in a single shot everything was gone.

"You fucking bastard! I hate you!"

"Yeah, I've heard that time and time again in my life. People never got enough of messing with me. Now…I mess with you." Another shot rang out and Sam let out another scream. Rueben clutched his throat and froze on the spot, his eyes wide as saucers. Blood began to drip down his neck and down his chest. Tears stung his eyes bitterly and he fell to his knees. How could this happen to him? To _him_ of all people? "Sorry Rueben, I guess that's just how it goes…I wonder who's going to be next."

"Stop it!" Sam cried out and finally managed to push her protectors off of her. "Stop killing them! Please!" Melanie cried out for her and Carly quickly rose to her feet. Sam looked over and held out her hand. "No, stay away, please…I…I don't want anyone else to be hurt."

"Sam, no!" Melanie quickly grabbed her and pulled her aside, she knew it was far too late to step back now, so there was only one alternative. She knew they were both wearing the same small t-shirt under their main shirt and the same pants, so thinking fast, she removed Sam's shirt and then her own.

"W-What are you doing?" The sniper growled as he scanned the room, still unable to see them. His night vision goggles weren't helping too much.

"Just trust me…I'm not letting anyone hurt you." Melanie took Sam's hand and stepped into view. It wasn't long until they felt the cold scope upon their bodies. The sniper frowned when he was unable to tell them apart.

"What are you expecting, that I would be so confused that I wouldn't shoot?" Sam took a deep breath and squeezed her sister's hand, her heart was burning with fear and pain. She felt Carly take her other hand and looked over at her friend, who was glaring at the sniper with a hatred of her own.

"Who do you think you are, trying to hunt my friend down this way! Can't you just learn to talk things through? Why do innocent people have to die?"

"In a way they're not all innocent. Sam is by far the least innocent person."

"I know she's done some bad things, but that was in the past!" Sam peered around nervously, where was Freddie? He'd been missing ever since he and T-Bo left. The sniper said T-Bo was dead, so what about Freddie.

Then she thought about it, there hadn't been anyone else in that room besides T-Bo and Freddie. T-Bo never let anyone in unless he actually permitted it. Then she had to think, if the man knew T-Bo was dead and no one else had been in there, that left only one suspect as possible. Especially when one considered how quickly Freddie arrived after the maniac, and how the police found the costume in an alley. Her heart stopped and she let out a fearful sob. "F-Freddie? Is that you?"

Carly and Melanie gasped as the sniper chuckled sinisterly. He lifted up a remote and pressed the button, flipping on all the lights and revealing himself. Sam's eyes enlarged as her eyes met Freddie's lethal gaze. "Hello ladies." She bowed her head down and Carly took an angry step forward, growling as she did so.

"How could you do this, Freddie? I thought we were friends!" He scoffed and threw his sniper to the side, then proceeded to flip through the hole and land on the ground. He pulled a small pistol out and started walking towards the twins. They were shivering from the fear, the anguish, and the betrayal.

"Thanks to Sam, she just fried all my electronics. Whether it was by mistake or not, she has caused me enough grief and pain. She _deserves _to die."

"No she doesn't, Freddie! Nobody deserves to die! What changed you?"

"Oh shut your yapping…" Carly gasped and put her hand to her chest. Tears stung her eyes as Freddie lifted his pistol to the girls. "Now one of you is the real Sam…who's going to get it first?" Sam's lower lip shook as she fell to her knees. Freddie raised his eyebrows as she clutched her hands together and looked up at him.

"Freddie, please…" She gasped softly, her entire body aching with guilt and torment. She choked back a whimper and trembled. "Please, I never meant…any harm…I just, I was just…" She couldn't explain it, she'd gone so long with a dysfunctional family that she just always hardened herself up, kept people from getting too close to her. "I never wanted people to be close to me…I just…I'm sorry Freddie! Please!"

"It's too late for apologies, Sam." He smirked and moved his pistol to her forehead. She gasped and clenched her eyes shut as he cocked his gun back.

"No!" Melanie stepped in front of Sam, pushing Freddie back just as he pulled the trigger. Sam's eyes widened as the gun ripped through Melanie's thigh and tore into Sam's right shoulder. Carly froze as Melanie fell to the ground and shouted, tears were flowing from her eyes as she gasped out in anger. "Take me first! Don't hurt my sister, please!"

She couldn't believe she actually had a crush on this guy. If he snapped when a prank had just gone on too far, then it said quite a bit. Freddie narrowed his eyes and shifted his weapon back to Sam, glaring at her with uncaring eyes. Sam was now holding Melanie in her arms and weeping, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Fine Freddie, if you hate me that much…then kill me! Just do it! Don't hurt my sister, don't hurt Carly, don't hurt anyone else, _please!_" She buried her head into Melanie's shirt and let out a sob as Freddie pulled back the hammer on his gun. Her body shook and her life flashed before her eyes.

She remembered a happier time, a time when she and Melanie were young girls and they had a full happy family. Her mom and Dad would take them to the park all the time and let them play on the swings, laughing and singing. They seemed to have everything, the entire world was theirs to keep.

Then one day it happened, her father just left. It devastated them, he didn't have a reason or a word at all, he just left them behind. She loved her dad more than anything, they had been _so_ close to one another. When he went away, that's when she started to toughen up, to harden herself and to push away anyone who got close enough to hurt her, close enough to _leave_ her.

"I-It's my fault anyways, Freddie…" Sam sobbed and clutched her sister harder. Now she might lose someone else, the one person she never tried to push away, the one person she truly loved. "Oh god!" Saliva dripped from her mouth as she cried harder. Melanie let out a soft groan and looked up to her sister, she still wanted to fight, she still wanted to protect her. "I just pushed everyone away, I know! I pushed everyone I loved away, but only because that's how I felt…safe…safe from hurt, safe from people leaving me. God, please don't hurt anyone else."

"Hm…" Freddie tilted his head to the left and chuckled spitefully, he wouldn't pretend to be touched by such a miserable, pathetic story. "How touching, but it's like I said, too fucking late for apologies." Freddie lifted his eyes to Carly's and her legs buckled. She fell to her knees, all hope lost. She just knew she was going to die here. "I'm not going to let any of you girls live. I know there's plenty of witnesses, but there's no one in here that gives a shit who you are…I'll be nice and spare you from having to live with Sam's blood on you."

"Please Freddie! God, don't hurt them! It's _me_ you want!"

"Too. Fucking. Late." Sam whimpered, he wasn't going to listen. She clenched her eyes shut as sirens started filling the air outside. She knew it was far too late, they wouldn't be able to break in until after he'd at least killed them all. Her body trembled and Carly tried to think of a way to save Sam. Right now, there was nothing. It was killing her to think she couldn't do _anything_. "Goodbye forever, Puckett."

Suddenly a gunshot rang out. Sam cried out, thinking it was Freddie's gun, but she opened her eyes when she realized she wasn't dead. They saw Freddie's legs shaking and looked up to see him holding the gun to the side and his body trembling painfully. His eyes were lifted skyward and blood was starting to trickle from his lips. "H-How…" He had a hole in his chest and an exit wound in his back, a bullet had ripped through his heart.

The girls watched with frozen eyes as he fell before them, bleeding out onto the floor. They turned their heads and saw T-Bo leaning his right shoulder against the wall. His left eye was closed, sweat was dripping down his body, and he was breathing heavily. His right hand was clutching his side while his other hand was holding a smoking handgun. Their eyes widened in shock as they stared at the gun and listened to his grating breath. He _never_ touched guns. He did have one in his office desk for safe keeping, but he always swore he wouldn't use it because he hated weapons.

"N-Not in my store, you don't…" He fell to the ground just as the police managed to bust the doors open and run in with the paramedics. Several officers directed the survivors outside while the girls felt blankets wrapped around them. They moved their eyes to Freddie's body and felt the air around them go cold as all of time ceased to exist. What had just happened? This had to be a dream, a nightmare. They continued staring until the paramedics lifted his body from the ground and the police began taking statements. Even still, however, the shock kept them too quiet for them to even focus on reality. This was just too much.

A month later, the pain was still there and the girls could hardly go inside the groovy smoothie shop, but they managed to brave the almost unbelievable memory. Melanie rolled her wheelchair in and held the door open for Sam and Carly, and almost instantly the memory of that day flashed before their eyes. They turned their gazes to the desk and saw T-Bo wiping down the counter. His face was hard and his usually permanent smile was etched into a frown.

The girls made their way to him and he moved his sad and shady eyes to them. "What would you like?" He was now a local hero in the town, but he didn't see himself that way. He didn't even _want_ to be recognized as such. People _died_ in his shop, that hardly made him feel heroic. He now had to have a pacemaker because Freddie screwed up his heart, so that didn't make him feel anymore heroic. His usual upbeat, perky demeanor was now seemingly a thing of the past.

"The…usual smoothies please…" Carly asked with a slight, tiny smile. T-Bo nodded and moved over to prepare the three smoothies. The girls looked to the left wall that had been turned into a memorial wall for people to write their condolences and memories on. There were five pictures framed on the wall, together they seemed to form the petals of a flower. Officer Carl's photo was at the north while his partner's photo was in the North east side just beneath his. Directly across, in the Northwest position was a photo of Gibby. Below Gibby's photo was Rueben, and across from Rueben's photo was Nevel's picture.

Tears came to the girls' eyes as they turned away from the wall. Shannon had survived that attack by some miracle. Nevel had died quickly when the bullet shattered his spine, but it wasn't instant like Rueben's death had been. Gibby's death was the most painful, it seemed, as his gurgling sounds never ceased the entire time. He didn't die until after the paramedics reached him, by then it had been too late to save him. These five people had been recognized as heroes as well for having tried to stand up to Freddie.

Shannon wouldn't go _near_ the smoothie shop, she just wasn't brave enough. She never got over Rueben's death and was currently in the psychiatric ward to make sure she didn't hurt herself.

Pam now almost _always_ was watching over her girls, she also made sure if they were leaving and she was asleep, they better wake her up and tell her where they were going. She didn't want to risk losing her daughters, especially with one now paralyzed from the waist down. When she woke up and turned on the news that day, she nearly died on the spot from the overload of shock and fear.

Spencer was just about the same way now, he'd become overprotective of Carly ever since that day and almost never let her befriend any guys without him knowing everything there was to know about that person. He didn't want his little sister coming that close to death again.

As for iCarly, it was over. Carly and Sam couldn't cope with the memories, they still didn't want to believe that Freddie had finally snapped. It was hard for them to live with the guilt and the pain, but hopefully their therapists could somehow help them. Mrs. Benson had been so grieved by what happened that she never left her apartment, staying inside and staving herself. Spencer became worried for her after a few weeks and finally called the cops, and that was when they found her body. She died three weeks after the incident with Freddie, having starved herself to death when her son, the only thing she had left, committed murder and got himself killed.

T-Bo handed them their drinks for free, he knew they didn't come around often anymore and he would never charge them after the pain they went through. They tearfully took the drinks, thanked him, and started to leave the place. T-Bo leaned forward and placed his palms on the desk, watching the girls sadly. He may be a local hero, but his business was dying down now. Even if it hadn't been, he just wasn't sure he could continue this business anymore. The memories were too painful for him as well. Maybe, it was time to let his brother take over the shop. He closed his eyes and felt the tears moving down his once smooth skin. It was all over now, and the fear still gripped everyone's hearts and everyone's nightmares. Even still, nobody could explain why it was that Freddie had simply snapped. Perhaps nobody ever would. He turned his eyes to the stains on the floor, he just hadn't been able to clean them up completely. "None of it matters now…"

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><p>An emotionally gripping story, I hope you have read it, and if you review it leaves me happy about the fact that you gave it a chance ^_^.<p> 


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